Any characters you recognize belong to Laurell K. Hamilton or the
members of this group. I’m just doing this for fun. It’s rated PG so far but
that may change and thanks to my beta. She is waaay good
Camden had decided against camping. He didn't feel like tying
everything to the bike. The body shop
wouldn't get his truck from the police for a week. So it was a safe bet he wouldn't get it back for a month after
that. No camping. Nothing he couldn't
do about that.
He'd also decided not to go to work for a few days. He was still
miffed at Matt and Camden just didn't want to get into a shouting match about
everything.
He was lying in bed watching videos when the phone rang. Without
looking he reached over to the nightstand and grabbed it.
“Hello?” It didn’t surprise him that it was Matt on the other end.
“No. I'm taking the week off.”
“What? Why?” His brother asked.
“Because I want to. Trent is just as good at repair as I am.”
“When he comes in.” The elder brother scoffed.
“Hey he's your friend. I already told dad I was taking off. I need
a break.”
“You're nineteen. What do you need time off for? Get your ass down
here.” Matt ordered from the other end of the line.
Camden just hung up the phone. When it started ringing again he
ignored it. After a minute or two it stopped ringing. He turned on the
answering machine. Getting up, he
showered and dressed for riding. He put on black jeans, a red hooded tee shirt,
black boots and his black leather jacket. He shoved his wallet in his back
pocket, grabbed his keys and helmet and left.
It was almost eleven. Camden figured he'd go grab some lunch and
then head up the highway. He was almost out of the drive when he remembered the
cell phone. Shutting down the bike he pushed up his visor. He'd promised his
dad he'd take it. Sighing he went back inside to retrieve the phone.
The light on the answering machine was flashing. Camden punched
the play button.
It was David. “Cam, Zach and I have set up a place for the two of
you to meet. Call me.”
He thought about it, even picked up the phone then changed his
mind. It could wait. There was this place downtown he wanted to check out.
Autumn had said it had all kinds of swords and daggers, as well as tarot cards
and runes. Maybe he could find out more about all the symbols at Dead Druids.
He wasn't sure why it interested him so much but he'd always liked
Mythology. He grabbed his cell phone
and started off again.
He went to a little diner just before the downtown exit. A lot of
truckers ate there. All Camden knew was the place had a huge cheeseburger and
the best fries around.
He ordered and then called David. “Got your message.”
“We've decide on a safe place for you and Zach to meet.” Mr.
Daniels told his son.
“Where? And why does it have to be so safe?”
The elder man hedged. “Because it has to be. The meeting will be
at the Circus of the Damned.” Camden laughed so the older man added, “I'm
serious.”
“Dad. That's in the Blood Quarter.”
“Yes I know. Trust me. It's the safest place in this city.”
The young man hesitated then told his dad, “I'll think about it.”
“Alright. Where are you?”
“Rosie's. Then I'm going downtown.”
“Not going camping?” The elder Daniels sounded surprised.
“Decided I didn't want to haul everything on the bike. Oh and I
pissed Matt off.” His father sighed and waited for him to explain. “Well I told
him I wasn't coming in this week and he got all indignant.”
“Indignant huh? All right. Be careful and call me when you get
in.”
“Sure.” The young man turned the phone off and shook his head in
disbelief. “Circus of the Damned. Can't wait.”
A waitress brought his lunch. He sat there musing about meeting
his real father as he ate. He couldn't believe they wanted to meet in the
Quarter. Hopefully it would be in the light of day.
Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see a friend that
he sometimes rides with, Jake Marks. He was in riding gear as well. Jake
scooted his six-foot frame into the seat opposite Camden. He was a blond with
green eyes, born and raised in St. Louis.
“Man, where ya been? We missed you at tryouts.” His friend asked.
“Some of us have to work. So how'd you do?”
His friend grinned. “Two out of three. I'll be racing Saturday.”
“Great! I'll ride down.”
Jake nodded then grew more serious. “Heard that somebody messed
with your truck.”
“Yeah. Haven't heard if they got any prints yet.”
“That sucks man.” Camden just nodded so his friend asked. “Where
ya headed?”
“Downtown to this shop a friend told me about. It's supposed to
have a lot of books on mythology and stuff.”
“Cool.” He nodded as he snagged a fry. “We're gonna have a party
the night before race. Can you make it?”
“Where is it?”
“My place.”
Camden nodded. “I'll try and make it.”
“Leann will be there.”
“And that's supposed to mean something to me?” The young Daniels
asked.
“Whoa! Take a pill dude!
Try and make it Friday.”
“Try.” He shrugged.
Jake left. Camden finished eating, paid his bill and left the
waitress a nice tip. He liked Rosie's. Not too many uppity yuppie types knew
about it yet. Riding toward the city he mused about the meeting set up and its
location. Why would his dad even consider that? Camden supposed there was a
good reason. He was so lost in thought that he missed the first exit and had to
ride another mile and a half to the next one.
He found the shop easy enough. Autumn had told him to look for a
wooden sign over the door with a wizard in blue and a black book. He parked his
bike next to another one. He took off his helmet and got off the bike. Camden
checked out the bigger bike for a bit. It was a Valkyrie. ‘Nice,’ he thought.
Camden turned the knob and walked in. A little tinkling bell
sounded. He didn't see anyone behind the counter, so he just looked around. He
found a shelf of mythology books as well as tarot cards. He was looking at some
books on runes when he saw a section on Celtic symbols. Leafing through the
pages he found several symbols he had seen at the club.
He didn't hear Zach walk up behind him. “Studying the Celts?”
The young man nodded. “Interested in their symbols. Wanted to find
out about the Druids.”
“Ah. I have a good section on them.”
“Cool! I'd like to…”
Camden turned. The two men found themselves face to face, father
and son. They both gasped, surprised. They stood silently, neither knowing what
to say.
It was Tiffany coming from the back room and dropping a box of
books that brought them out of the silence. Camden went to help her. Zach stood
watching his son. He felt a pang of guilt that he hadn't been there for him and
a pang of sadness that Camden's mother couldn't be there.
They young woman blushed. “I'm so sorry Mr. Camden. It's just that
you two… could be twins.”
The elder man smiled. “It's alright Tiffany. You broke a stalemate.”
“I did?” She looked a bit confused.
“Here ya go.” The young man took the box and set it on the
counter. “I'm Camden.” He offered his hand.
She took it smiling. “What's your first name?”
He shook his head. “It is my first name.”
Zach interrupted. “It's a long story, but Camden is my son.”
“Well duh. I may be blond but I'm not stupid.” Camden laughed at
the woman’s joke.
The older man agreed. “No you aren't.”
She looked from one man to the other. “Would you like me to
leave?”
Cam shrugged. “No. Why?”
Zach added. “He's right you don't have to. So. Where to begin?”
The young man crossed his arms across his chest and answered. “I
don't know. How about where the hell have you been for nineteen years? Why did
you wait until now to show up? To start caring?”
His father smiled sadly. “I have always known where you were, who
you were with. I have always cared Camden but I had to keep my distance. I
didn't want to put David and his family in danger.”
“What danger? Trisha?” The young man asked.
Tiffany chimed in when the name was mentioned. “Oh she gives me
the creeps.”
Both men grinned before Camden told her, “You aren't the only
one.” He looked over at Zach. “She really isn't my mother?”
He shook his head. “No. You want to sit down? I'll try and
explain.” Camden hesitated so the man tried to reassure him. “I'm not trying to
replace David. I never could.”
“You got that right.” Cam quickly agreed.
“I just want to explain. If you're willing to listen.” He told his
son.
The young man shrugged. “I guess I owe you that much at least.”
Zach shook his head. “You don't owe me anything. I on the other
hand owe you. Tiffany do you mind watching the front?”
“Of course not.” She smiled, her blue eyes sparkling.
Zach showed Camden to the back room. The younger man took in all
of the books and artifacts. He thought it would really be cool to work here.
Zach smiled at his son's thoughts. It was funny what Tiffany had said. She'd
only met Trisha once and it had been enough. Zach let Camden wander around the
workroom for a bit.
He finally told the young man. “First. Call David and let him know
you're here. He wanted to be at our first meeting.”
Camden called David. The elder Daniels was surprised by the turn
of events and cautiously optimistic. He told Camden that he was on his way and
that it was alright to start without him.
The younger Daniels looked around. “Any of this stuff real?”
“Most of it.”
“No way.”
Zach nodded. “There are some fakes.”
“Is it hard to pick them out?”
“It takes a good eye.” He picked up a pair of pendants. They
looked identical. A large diamond was in the center, surrounded by a row of
rubies. “Which one of these do you think is real?”
Camden checked each piece of jewelry out. They both looked old.
The diamonds on one were more yellowish. The clasp on the other one had been
replaced. It was a different shade than the rest of the piece. He chose the one
with the different clasp.
Zach smiled. “You're right. This one is from circa 1760. The other
about 1900.”
“Wow. Cool.”
“The makers marks are similar as well.”
They sat and talked about different ways to make sure a relic was
authentic. Weapons not only had a mark but also a certain weight and metal
content. A certain style dated them as well. They talked about anything but
themselves until David arrived. Tiffany showed him in.
After a few moments Camden asked his first question. “Why did you
give me up?”
“To protect you.” Camden frowned. Zach ran a hand through his hair
and sighed. “Your mother wanted a child desperately but we both knew she
wouldn't be able to carry it to term. So we used a bit of both of us and used
Trisha as our incubator.”
“You didn't know she was a loon?” The young man asked.
His biological father shook his head. “No unfortunately. But as a
precaution, as soon as you were born we had you taken to the nursery, checked
out and then we took you home. She was never supposed to know where we were…
Where you were.”
Mr. Daniels explained. “That was Allison. She's a sucker for a sob
story.”
The young man looked from one father to the other. “She told me
that you were in the occult… That you had killed people. I figured she was
whacked.”
Zach nodded. “That's one way to put it.”
His son asked. “My mother? Where is she?” Zach swallowed hard as
he asked, “What was her name?”
“Her name was Delia.” The storeowner reached into his back pocket
and brought out his wallet, extracting a photo. He handed it over to Camden.
“That is one of three that I have left.”
David and Camden studied the photo. The woman was in her early
twenties with dark brown hair. She and Zach were standing in front of a stone
obelisk. She was holding a baby in a blue blanket.
Zach smiled. “That was taken at Stonehenge. We had gone to visit
her family.”
“How old was he in this photo?” David asked.
“Two weeks. Hard to believe.” The other older man shook his head.
“So what happened?” Their son asked.
Zach told them. They had spent two weeks in Britain. Delia's
family all fussed over the baby. On their way back they stopped in Arizona.
That was where Zach's parents had lived. While there the calls had started. How
Trisha had gotten his parents number he had no idea. The hospital had promised
never to release the info to anyone.
When they had returned to St. Louis, things had quieted down. One
night, Delia had gone down the street to the grocery. As she was crossing the
street a car came out of nowhere and ran her down. She had died instantly.
Her body had been flown back to Wales. Delia's family had tried to
get Zach to stay; he had turned them down. He had tried to make sure that
Camden was cared for. Had taken him to the shop and just about everywhere. Then
Trisha had shown up and sometimes she hadn't been alone.
Zach explained. “I knew then that someone had a more than passing
interest. That she was working for them. She kept alluding to the Council and
bloodlines. It even crept into my head that maybe she had hit your mother but I
dismissed that. She isn't that brave.”
David stepped in to help. “Zach and I had met in the hospital on
the maternity ward. My sister was giving birth that same day. We kept in touch
from then on. So when he asked me if I would look after you and raise you as my
own… I was more than a bit wary but Allison thought it a grand idea. She loves
babies.”
Their son looked from his dad to Zach. “You just gave me up. Just
like that?”
The other man shook his head. “No. David would bring you to visit
every weekend. Then my home was ransacked, documents taken and I was attacked…
Here. They thought I would tell them where you were. They left me for dead. My
courier at the time, Alex, found me and called his other employer. He saved
me.”
The young man shook his head. “Why did they want me? There isn't
anything special here.”
Zach smiled. “You are very special. It was a miracle that you were
conceived.” Camden frowned. He was so confused. “David only knows half of it.”
“That's more than I know.” His son crossed his arms over his
chest. “Spill it. The truth. Why am I such a miracle?”
Zach looked from David to Camden before answering. “Because your
mother was a shifter… a wolf, and I am a Seer… A Mage and as of seventeen years
ago… a vampire.”